Retirement update

Cliff is settling into retirement nicely.  Oh, he still keeps pretty busy all day, even in this heat.  He spent the last two days tearing my old tack room out of the barn, since there are no horses in my future; this frees up some space for hay or for parking tractors.  It wasn't that big a room, but there's now an open corner that wasn't there.  
His current project is disassembling the dog pen he and the twins build for Mandy in 2004.

That's Mandy; she's three dogs ago in my past.  I got her as a puppy, and she happily spent her nights in the pen.  Unfortunately, she had barely made it past a year old when she was struck by a car on the highway and killed.  After her death we got Sadie, and I don't recall using the pen for her much, except for when Cliff had his heart surgery.  I used it a very few times for Iris when I first got her, until I found out she'd do fine in the house in our absence.  I was going to try using the pen for chickens, but the chicks I bought only made it a couple of nights before rats killed them.  

   The twins next door helped Cliff construct the pen; I was at work when all this went on.  
Anyhow, taking out that pen will likely be Cliff's project today.  (Added later:  I walked outside after I made this entry and saw he's about done with the project already.)  This morning he has a date with granddaughter Monica; he's giving her occasional driving lessons. 
There has been one change in Cliff's routine:  He's sleeping eight or nine hours at night.  For years he got by on six or seven hours of sleep because he would wake up knowing his time was limited to do things he needed to do before he went to work at 2:30 P.M.  Try as he might, he couldn't go back to sleep once he was awake.  So he is now sleeping longer, and I'm glad for that; it always worried me that he got by on so little sleep.    
He gets up, takes his time on the laptop checking out Craigslist and other favorite websites (my blog, for instance), goes for a walk around 8 or 8:30 (I'm walking with him every other day now), and then starts working on his projects.  He's mowed most of the pasture until I think he's sick of mowing, but there are still some places to do.  He doesn't always wear his watch now; the only thing he has to be on time for is dinner!
Because he's had heart issues, he isn't supposed to be out in this intense heat we're having, but he isn't about to sit in the house and twiddle his thumbs just to stay cool.  He does move slowly on these hot days, drinks gallons of water, and takes frequent breaks, sitting in his shop listening to Willy's Place on his XM/Sirius radio.  
Cliff has always had back pain, but it seemed to hurt more when he first retired.  He switched recliners for awhile, but that didn't seem to help.  Now he's decided to sit on the couch, and (knock wood), his back has not been bothering him nearly as much.  Perhaps recliners are not the best thing for one's back. Remember when Kennedy was president and his doctor told him to get a big wooden rocking chair to ease his back pain?  Maybe that's what Cliff needs.  
If the weather ever breaks, we'll take a road trip or two on the motorcycle.  But with these temperatures we're having, it would be like riding in a blast furnace.  No thanks.